The Unexpected
by GuitarGirl97
Summary: One shot set immediately after the events of the Season 2 episode 'Child of the Moon'. What would have happened if Rumpelstiltskin, by pure coincidence, went to the library and found Belle before Red got the chance to unchain her? The Dark One has loved and lost many people in his long and lonely life, so finding his true love chained to a book shelf may not go down too well...


**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Once Upon A Time. The characters are not mine.**

**Author Note:**** Hi! This is my first OUAT fanfic. I wasn't sure if I should publish it, as I haven't even watched all of Season 2 yet, let alone the current episodes, but then I decided why not? **

**I'm an ardent Rumbelle supporter. Rumpelstiltskin is my favourite character- I love him! Hopefully this fic will do him, and Belle, justice. **

**This one shot is set immediately after the season 2 episode 'Child of the Moon'. I always wondered what Rumpelstiltskin would say if he decided to pop along to the library and found Belle stuck there, handcuffed to the bookcases. Or maybe that should be, I always wondered what he might **_**do**_**...  
>A one shot to explore that scenario...and to write some Rumbelle fluff!<strong>

_**The Unexpected**_

If there was one thing Mr Gold- or Rumpelstiltskin, as he was better known since the curse had broken- had learned from the most recent occurrences in his life, namely involving the arrival of one Miss Emma Swan and the chaos that soon followed, it was to expect the unexpected. Despite the fact he had managed to acquire the ability to see the future from that dratted Seer all those years ago, his life spent as the feared Dark One had seen many surprises, often unsavoury to tell the truth. It was therefore rather odd, and stupid on his part, that he was only now coming to this conclusion that he should never be so complacent, or vulnerable to surprises, ever again.

It was only to be expected that his life would be fraught with various unplanned events, the majority of them unpleasant or just downright irritating. With a history as turbulent and chaotic as his- not to mention the, ahem, circumstances he existed in, as an all powerful beast who inspired either terror or a jealous murderous intent in everyone he met- he seemed to attract such a lifestyle that he couldn't even plan as far as next week without something ruining it all. If Rumpel had a gold coin for every time his plans had been ruined by the need to murder a mute maid, or to make deals with some brutish war lord, or even to take an unplanned carriage ride to avoid having to suffer through tea with Regina and trying to look anywhere but that ghastly cleavage she always seemed to flaunt with such pride, he would be the richest inhabitant of the Enchanted Forest. That is, if he didn't already have the largest fortune due to his straw-to-gold spinning trick.

The thing was, the 28 years spent as Mr Gold in Storybrooke had made Rumpel forget just how strange things could become in his life. In the Enchanted Forest, he was used to it. In Storybrooke, where he didn't have the luxury of turning bothersome plan-disruptors into snails...not so much.

It was a lucky thing, really, that the biggest surprise of recent weeks was to have his shop door opened by a bedraggled, confused yet utterly enchanting Belle. But as overjoyed as he had been to find that she was alive despite Regina's trickery, Rumpel was still unsure as to whether he particularly enjoyed being shocked like that- the feelings that had rocketed through his body upon looking up and seeing her stood there were feelings he hadn't felt in a long time, and it had hurt, quite a lot actually. Could heart failure be brought on by extreme joy followed by extreme murderous anger? He really didn't want to ever find out.

Finding that Belle was still alive was the one miracle to have occurred in Rumpel's lifetime. Having her embrace him, even kiss him- well, those experiences had been something else altogether. But knowing the truth of her incarceration and having her angry with him, almost being thrown across the town line in that damned mine cart, saying she never wanted to see him again- why could the unexpected not at least be limited to good things? The bad surprises were likely to be the death of him some day. He didn't quite know how that would work, but that was the point- he didn't know.

So many things occurring in such a short space of time, so many unplanned events. It seemed that there were some things magic couldn't fix. Even recently, the whole ordeal with Emma and the irritating Snow White- the wretched woman was apparently even more of a magnet for trouble than he was, seeing as every bad thing possible, related to Regina or not, seemed to happen to her- being flung into the Enchanted Forest and then all those strange goings on with the sleeping curse dream world. The endless woes of the Charming family had ruined his planned time with Belle and Rumpel was not feeling too pleased about that last unexpected cancellation. If these unplanned events intruded on an afternoon he had planned to spend by himself, sorting out his shop, then so be it. But intruding on his time with Belle...that was something he would never be happy to allow.

But unpleasant surprises be damned. Rumpel had loved and lost many people in his life, and by some miracle, the one he truly loved had somehow managed to come back to him. He wasn't going to be a complete ass and let history repeat itself, as he had found it was so fond of doing- he would do anything in his power to keep her. And right now, that meant seeing her whenever he was able. Due to the endless woes of the Charming family, and their harebrained antics that always seemed to result in someone getting lost or trapped and needing to be found- Rumpel was not at all taken by the cutesy 'I will always find you' rubbish they happily spewed at each other- he had only just managed to find a spare moment in his day. It was late at night, but he doubted that such a thing would be a problem. Belle might even find it a nice surprise to have Rumpel turn up at the library- damn it, now even he was getting involved with the surprises and unexpected events nonsense!

The town seemed oddly quiet that night, a fact he noted as he crossed the empty streets to the library that was now hers, and Rumpel could only think that it was a good thing. He often missed the seclusion of his Dark Castle, back in the Enchanted Forest, where no one could bother him without considerable difficulty and risk of death at many points along their journey. That was the trouble with small towns- even if the citizens were cursed ex-inhabitants of another land; everyone wanted to know everything that was going on, all the time. Even now they had all regained their memories, Rumpel still had people coming to his shop, simply to sniff out any gossip they might have missed. Oh, how he missed living on a mountain, far away from all civilisation, apart from one imprisoned maid whose singing he could listen to all day long...

A noise in the distance made Rumpel stop fondly remembering his days as the Dark One and he looked around sharply, looking to see if someone was lurking in one of the alleyways, waiting to pounce. That was another thing about small towns he didn't like- the people held grudges for a ridiculous length of time. He had completely lost track of which miserable fate he had dealt to which snivelling forest dweller- in fact, he had lost track of all his dark deeds, his mind having been occupied by many other things since the days of pranks and trickery. One of these days, he would be greeted with another unexpected nasty; some irritable pixie or mortified warlord, trying to attack him to make up for whatever he had done to them in the forest days.

Yet another thing he would have to try and be ready for. At this rate, Rumpel was going to end up a paranoid wreck.

He managed to make it across the silent town without being set upon and as he drew up to the library, he wondered what Belle's reaction might be. He hoped that she would see him, smile that beautiful smile and then hurry over to him, maybe hug him or even better than that. Smiling a little in anticipation of what might happen, he opened the doors to the library, ignoring the closed sign and stepping straight inside, looking around him. The lights' weren't on, which was odd, seeing as the door still hadn't been locked, suggesting that she was still inside.

"Belle?" he called out, thinking that she must be tucked away in a corner, nose in a book. She'd probably lost all track of the time, so busy reading that she hadn't noticed it had gotten dark and that she hadn't even locked up yet. He began to walk through the aisles, looking for where she might be. "Belle, it's me. I was wondering, perhaps if you're free tonight, if you wanted to-"

He turned a corner and stopped abruptly, the words he had been saying suddenly gone from his head. For there, chained to one of the shelves and wearing a sheepish expression which became a little worried to see his shocked face, was Belle. Rumpel clenched his fists and gritted his teeth- this was the last straw, the crème de la crème of unexpected nasties and unwanted surprises. Clearly there was some force in the universe that was so against the idea of him ever seeing the woman he loved that it had inspired some idiot to go to the most ridiculous extremes. If someone thought this was a joke, a silly little game, Rumpel had yet to see the funny side. Belle clearly wasn't hurt in any way, but she looked exhausted, and bored, and now a little wary. Considering that Rumpel's face resembled a volcano about to explode, it was easy to see why she might be just a little anxious.

"Rumpelstiltskin." She said in an odd voice, peering at him worriedly. "Hi."

Rumpel took a step towards her, and she shrunk back from him- clearly his facial expression was more murderous than he intended. He bowed his head and took a few deep breaths, trying to remind himself that this annoyance was most definitely not the fault of Belle, and that becoming angry with her would be the work of a complete idiot. He raised both hands and tried to smile, to show her that he wasn't angry, but then his eyes focused on the fact she was chained to a bookshelf in her own library, and he felt the anger starting to bubble up all over again.

To hell with being calm, he thought madly, and to hell with surprises! I will find whichever dumb moron decided that playing a prank on the Dark One was funny, and then I will turn them into a snail and yell 'surprise!' as I grind them underfoot into a perfect snail puree for the birds to feast upon!

"What happened?" he demanded, his voice low and starting to simmer. "Who the hell did this to you? Did they think it was funny, chaining you to a shelf in the middle of the night?! What if I hadn't decided to stop by- you would have been stuck here all night! Haha, very funny, NICE SURPRISE!"

"Rumpel, calm down. You don't need to get yourself into such a state, I'm just fine." She stuck her chin up as if to demonstrate this fact. Rumpel, still bordering on throwing a childish tantrum, turned and in a moment of frustration sent his cane pounding against the wall. The flawless white paintwork was scarred by an ugly hole, right in the middle where no book shelf could disguise it, and Belle's lips pursed into one thin, angry line as she took in the damage to her newly decorated library. "I think you really ought to leave. The library is closed."

Rumpel laughed to hear such a thing- it wasn't his old mad cackle from the Dark One days, but rather Mr Gold's cool, calculated chuckle. Belle couldn't help but smile to hear him laugh like that, even though she was outraged by his behaviour.

"You can hardly say that, sweetheart, you're chained to the wall." He said softly, calming down for the first time since he had come in and seen her like this. She frowned a little at the pet name, still glaring at the damage to the wall, and he nodded and muttered to himself about women and their worrying over inconsequential details. Belle heard him, and her glare became almost scary. "Ok, ok. I may have overreacted a little. But this isn't funny- why don't you tell me who did this to you, and then I can go and have a nice long chat with them about manners and how it is so terribly impolite to chain people to bookshelves-!"

"Yes, I can imagine how that 'chat' would go." Belle frowned at him again, wondering what had made him so irritable and hot tempered. She hadn't seen him this angry and impulsive since her time serving him as a maid at the Dark Castle- she had thought that he had learned to control that maniacal side to him, as Mr Gold. But he hadn't changed that much after all. "Look, there really is no need to get so upset. It was Red, who chained me up. It was the wolf thing...uh...she wanted to protect me. It's nothing to get angry about, really. Oh, I hope she's alright..."

Rumpel was confused. He had no idea what she meant by 'the wolf thing'. Yes, Ruby, Red, whatever her name was, was an odd little specimen who could turn into a wolf. But why would chaining Belle to a bookshelf have anything to do with that? It was clearly another unexpected occurrence in Storybrooke, something he must have missed whilst playing errand boy and saviour for HRH Prince Incompetent and co...

"The wolf thing?" he repeated in a confused voice, clearly questioning her awful explanation and the lack of clarity around the issue.

"There's no need to sound so exasperated with me! I don't know the details- I don't know anything about this town, or the people in it! Funny, I didn't really get the chance to go out and socialise whilst I was locked in that padded cell!" she flared up, hating the fact she was so stupid and unaware of all the details, and that she was unable to be of any use to him. She blushed as soon as the words were out, seeing him flinch and going tense and silent in fury to recall that whole ordeal, how he had felt being told she was dead, how angry he had been to learn that she had been so close all this time, that if he had somehow been smart enough to tease it out of Regina he could have gone storming in there and smashed the place to pieces to find her- "Oh, I'm sorry Rumpel, that was such a horrible thing of me to say! I didn't mean it- I'm so sorry!"

He found a small, sad smile for her and with the anger evaporated, she didn't flinch or back away when he walked up to her and gently patted her arm, looking into those beautiful eyes of hers and perhaps rethinking his hatred of surprises, because her entrance into his life had been completely unplanned, and yet it was looking like the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He told her in a voice he hadn't known he was capable of using. The sound of it made Belle blush prettily. "I, however, must apologise for my mad behaviour. The antics of some of our fellow townspeople have left me feeling...irritated. But that should never be taken out on you." they smiled at each other in the dark. "And now, I'll get you out of these chains and you can go home. It can't have been much fun, being locked up in here all night, but I guess you could have read a book from the very shelf you've been chained to..."

He muttered the last part, whilst he was reaching forwards to touch the chains, his fingers already alight with a purple flame that made Belle freeze up. She hurriedly grabbed his hands and held them to stop him, breathing a sigh of relief as in his astonishment, the purple flame at his fingertips disappeared. He was astonished by her actions, though quite content to remain there with her holding tightly onto his hands- her fingers were warm and soft and gentle. He would, by choice, have them holding onto him for a long, long time.

"No, Rumpel. Don't. I don't want you to use magic." She said firmly, and the tone of her voice reminded him of so many other conversations he had endured centred around this particular topic, only it had been Bae who was protesting to his reliance on magic. The bad memories filled him with a sour unhappiness, and he closed his eyes and grimaced to try and avoid lapsing into a bitter, guilt powered reminiscing session. First the annoyance of all the unexpected nasties creeping up on him, and now _this._ All he had wanted was to spend some time will Belle. Oh, what a lovely evening. "Red will come back here at some point, to unlock the chains- I trust her."

Ah, the trust argument. That sort of sentimental thing might still be fresh and endearing for an innocent little thing like Belle, whose only encounters so far with treachery had been the very act resulting in her prolonged residence in the asylum, but Rumpel had seen far too much treachery in his time to have any patience left for that sort of thing. It was another one of the little deals he had made with himself, when he had been the all powerful Dark One- firstly he had made himself promise to never be taken by surprise, and that was working out wonderfully (oh, the irony), and secondly he had promised himself that he would never be one of these silly twits who always assumed the best in people. The silly ass who assumed that everyone was kind and sweet and would do the right thing was the same silly ass who ended up impaled on a spike, or fed to a pet dragon. Belle might well believe that Red would remember her and come back to liberate her from the bookshelf, but what if she didn't? Did Belle seriously want to stand around for the foreseeable future, chained to her own establishment, waiting for a wolf-woman hybrid to recall that she had gone insane and locked her friend up?

Things would be far simpler if everyone thought the same way as I do, Rumpel thought with a distinct air of exasperation.

"So you want to sit here all night on your own, chained to the wall?" he challenged, still feeling sore from thinking about Bae. He raised one eyebrow, scornfully, and she looked a little hurt.

"You're leaving?" she whispered, for some reason feeling stunned by that cold dismissal. Silly tears sprung up in her eyes, requiring a great deal of rapid blinking to get rid of them before he saw and did something even worse, like laugh or pity her. "Right. Yes. You need to...to do shop things I'm sure. Well, don't let me keep you. Bye."

He turned away from her and disappeared down an aisle of books, and as soon as he was gone she bowed her head and let the tears flow properly. Belle did not like crying, or being silly- it was so easy to sit there and cry, and she didn't like just doing to standard easy thing. But today she just couldn't find the energy to pull herself together and get over it- she was already worried about Red and frustrated that she couldn't help after all the kind things she had done for her, but to have Rumpel come in here, also clearly in a bad mood and grouchier than usual, was too much to handle all at once. She supposed that she should have just let Rumpel use his magic, so then she could get out of the library and make sure Red was alright, but she didn't want to encourage his use of magic, not when she was scared that it would separate them for good. Belle was worried, deep down, that Rumpel didn't feel the way she did- things had been strained between them, ever since she had stared at him in horror as he brought magic to Storybrooke, and she knew that she was clinging on with all she could, terrified that one day soon he would push her away and that would be the end of it. Couldn't he see that everything she did was because she loved him?

Belle kicked the shelving in frustration, angry now more than sad. Damn him! Damn him and his inability to open up to her! Damn him and his need to maintain his powerful reputation! Damn him for being so insensitive, so angry, so-

"No, I'll stay, thanks." Rumpel said in a dry voice, dragging a chair around the corner in the shelving. Belle stared at him in astonishment- he hadn't gone, he hadn't left her. He had just gone to turn on the lights and fetch a chair. She felt her eyes swim with more tears, but happy tears, and these rolled freely down her face, so she hurriedly wiped them with her free hand. "Here. Sit down."

"I can't sit." She explained, hoping he didn't decide to look at her face too closely. "Where my wrist is chained is too high up- it wouldn't reach."

"Hm." Rumpel mused aloud, examining the height of the chair and the positioning of the chains. Then, whilst she was busy wiping her face, he flicked his hand in the direction of the chair and made the legs grow, just a tiny amount. Rumpelstiltskin was an opportunist, after all, and the opportunity he saw here was one far too good to miss. This could be something to add to the ever more compelling argument that surprises and the unexpected could be good. "Well, I think if I sat down, and then you sat on my lap it might just work. Should we try that?"

He manoeuvred the chair and sat carefully down, before she then perched on him. The height was perfect, and Belle looked a bit bewildered.

"How odd. It's the perfect height with you sat on it." She said in a whisper, and Rumpel laughed silently. After that comment, though, they fell into awkward silence, not even looking at each other. Belle didn't want to put any of her weight on him, scared to squash him, and eventually she heard him mutter something under his breath before seizing her boldly and pulling her properly onto his lap, which was far more comfortable. She thought she heard him say 'silly girl' under his breath, and she smiled, nudging him gently. "Rumpel, I'm sorry I snapped at you about magic. I appreciate you just wanted to help me, and I'm grateful, truly I am. But...but magic is a- a sore spot for me. I lost you once because of magic and power, and I don't want to risk losing you again."

"I don't want to risk losing you, either." He said in a soft voice, daring to reach out and play with some of her hair. The texture was gorgeously soft through his fingers, and she smiled at the casual touch. "When...when Regina came to me, in the Dark Castle, and told me you were dead, I- well. There is no way to explain it, because there are no words that sufficiently describe it. It was so unexpected- and I _hate_ things that are unexpected- and then to have you turn up, alive, after so long of thinking the worst thing imaginable-"

"I told you once, a long time ago, that love is layered." Belle said in a gentle voice. "I still believe that. And I want to start uncovering those layers, but slowly. I want us to understand all there is to understand about each other, to know all there is to know, so that we can be each other's strength, not a weakness. We should go out together, sometime."

It was such an anti-climatic ending to such a lovely, meaningful speech that Rumpel had to laugh, gently brushing his nose against hers as he leant in and laughed that soft, amused laugh that she adored. She smelt so wonderful, right up close to him- in fact, he didn't think that he'd ever been so close to her, for such a long period of time. Her hair was tickling his face, her breathing so soft and delicate right up close to his ear. He loved her, every bit of her, and he was intent on savouring everything, even each flutter of her eyelashes.

"Yes, we should. I'd like that." He smiled, and she smiled back. "But now..."

"Now?" she repeated in a whisper.

"Now, you're chained to a wall- no, a shelf- and the whole town appears to have run off together, no doubt caught up in some stupid problem caused by Charming, as always. That man causes so many problems, I often wonder why I was the feared one, when being anywhere near him could guarantee sword fights, ambushes, being targeted by various enemies as well as being the top of Regina's hit list." He said, surprisingly breathless and dizzy with the number of feelings whirling round and round in his head. "Anyway, I wasn't trying to summarise all that's wrong with our dearest prince in less than a hundred words- I was talking about the fact that you're chained to a wall, no, bookshelf."

"And? Rumpel, you sound a little strange- your face is flushed. I don't-"

"I mean...what I mean is- I mean we should..._savour_ this unexpected opportunity." He barely uttered the words and she barely had the time to gasp before he leaned in and kissed her.

It was not the sort of kiss they had shared before- previously whenever their lips met it had been because they were both hysterically happy, needing to demonstrate their explosive joy in some way or another, or maybe they had kissed because they were in shock and had no idea what else to do. The timid true loves kiss Belle had originally planted on him, with disastrous effect, had been perfectly sweet but barely more than a peck, something you might bestow upon some distant relation. But this...Rumpel could barely begin to think of anything that would aptly describe this. This kiss was slow, and deep, and passionate rather than happy or sweet. Rumpel cradled her face in his hands, gently working her hair free and loose and wild, and he could feel her lips begin to move, as he teased a response from them. She began to slip her own free hand around his neck, to pull him closer, but suddenly she froze and pulled back.

There was a moment of awkward silence, Rumpel with his face buried in Belle's hair, and she frozen and looking at him. He couldn't formulate a coherent sentence, he was too lost in the moment that had been abruptly cut off.

"Rumpelstiltskin, did you honestly just say that having me chained to a bookshelf is an opportunity to savour?!" she asked in an outraged tone.

He looked up, realising that once again, in some shape or form, he had gone too far and said something that- on further reflection- sounded downright creepy. He had forgotten that she was a little emotionally unstable this evening- that was his only explanation for the fact she had been angry and then crying- and also that she had retained a little of that childlike innocence, making her perception of the world vastly different to his. He tried to think of something to say that would somehow detract from how disgusting the words had sounded, but he couldn't think of anything. He began to panic, a bead of sweat dripping down his spine.

"I'm sorry Belle, I-" he stammered, only to be cut off by a sweet, short kiss to the lips, before hearing her sigh and lay her head against his chest. In shock, he slipped his arms around her- he knew he was oblivious when it came to women, but he was pretty sure that angry women did not kiss you and cuddle up to you after you had just said something creepy, disgusting and offensive to their face.

"Ssh, Rumpel. That one was a quip." She giggled, the words taken from another conversation from long ago, where a girl in a long golden dress had first dropped the china cup that was now a symbol of their love.

"There are consequences for toying with the Dark One, dearie." He laughed in a whisper. "And now you will pay."

Belle raised an eyebrow in an unspoken challenge and tilted her head up towards him, inviting him to continue, but before their lips could meet again there came the sound of the library doors crashing open, and fast footsteps hurrying round the corner.

"Belle? Belle? Ruby- I mean, Red- is ok! There's no need to worry- she's absolutely fine, the problem was sorted out literally a few minutes ago-"

David suddenly appeared round the corner, where he skidded to a surprised halt, the words drying up on his lips, which were gaping in astonishment. He blinked once, twice, trying to work out if the scene in front of him was real, or if he had somehow tripped on his way here and this was all a hallucination from hitting his head. Although why he would hallucinate about this, he had no idea...

Was that really Mr Gold- Rumpelstiltskin, whatever he was called- sat there cradling Belle on his lap, playing with her hair and holding her in such a way that her wrist, which was chained to the bookshelf, wouldn't hurt? And was that really Belle, her free arm wrapped around him, gazing at Mr Gold with nothing short of adoration in her eyes? He shuddered- it should have been sweet, but there was something creepy about it.

"I, uh, I see that Gold got you out already." He said, embarrassed, feeling as if he had somehow intruded on something.

"On the contrary, Charming, I was merely waiting for you to arrive and do your 'prince thing'- rescue the damsel, slay the beast. Ah, but I see you did not come on your big white horse. Such a shame." Rumpel retorted in that light, dry, humorous tone that was always treading the boundary between teasing, threatening and insulting. Belle knew this all too well, and frowned at him.

"Rumpel." She cautioned, hopping off his lap and standing up to face David with a slightly defiant look, as if she were his teenage daughter and he had just caught her and a boyfriend kissing in his car, or something typical like that. "Rumpelstiltskin was waiting with me until Red came to unlock the chains."

David narrowed his eyes at Gold, wondering why the creep hadn't just melted the chains or broken them with his magic that he so often flaunted. Unless he hadn't wanted to unchain her- he preferred her tied up. David shuddered and tried to block the hundreds of disgusting images that filled his head at the thought of it- poor girl.

"Gold, that's low even for you." he muttered as he took out the key and unlocked the chains, immediately pulling Belle towards him, placing a protective hand on her arm. Belle rolled her eyes, trying to show Rumpel she found it all hilarious so he shouldn't get annoyed by it- of course, such a feeble attempt at peace making didn't work. "I'm going to tell you this once- if you want a place in this town, you had better stop treating people like possessions that you can barter with. Things are changing- you may have been the Dark One back home, Rumpelstiltskin, but here in Storybrooke you're nothing more than a sick, twisted old man who can do a couple of party tricks."

"Careful, dearie, it would seem that you've jumped to...an unsavoury conclusion." Rumpel purred, the mad cackle just breaking through the carefully controlled Mr Gold tone. "Hardly a _charming_ thing to do, is it, chaining people up? In fact, you should be glad that I'm feeling particularly mellow today, Your Highness, else I might have retaliated to this mistreatment. Considering that you are reliant on my assistance to get you out of all your little problems, I would think carefully about who you are trying to make friends with. "

"David, please, you've clearly misunderstood everything. Rumpelstiltskin is a good man, a changed man, and he has done nothing bad here at all. He was keeping me company, not whatever it is you're imagining." Belle soothed diplomatically, blushing when she considered what David had assumed about them tonight. "And you really don't need to hold onto my arm like that. I'm quite alright- in fact, I would really like to go and stand beside Rumpelstiltskin."

"He may behave well in your company, Belle, but as you can see he's not quite a good man yet." David said angrily, embarrassed that he had leapt to the wrong conclusion and that he had been spoken down to so patronisingly by that infuriating man.

"Rumpel, please, David is clearly not himself. Please don't react- show him that you are changed." Belle pleaded, her eyes wide. "Show him that you're better than he is."

Rumpel laughed, thankfully it was Gold's dark chuckle and not the mad cackle, and he limped over to her and took her arm, his fingers brushing gently against her hand as he smiled a little.

"Ah, don't worry Belle. I'm sure our dear prince is merely sore from the recent calamities that have befallen him and his family, yet again. Not to mention that his recent struggles to take leadership and bring the town to order have failed catastrophically. I'm sure, given the current state of his life, I can overlook his rudeness and his arrogance." He said in a low voice, that indicated some sort of threat but gave nothing away. Belle closed her eyes and shook her head, so disappointed with him in that moment, she would have preferred to turn on her heel and leave. "But I might just remind you of this, Charming; that though your priorities might be to bring Storybrooke into order and to restore the greater good that you're always so charmed by, your priorities give you no right to infringe on _my_ priorities. I'm sick and tired of you and your family thinking that I am at your beck and call- remember who I am, dearie, and how much power I possess. Your fancy crown is stuck in another land, but my magic is here. Also, if any such...discomfort ever happens to Belle again, I will not be so lenient."

"Rumpel, I told you, it was Red trying to protect me!" she protested angrily. "Stop living up to the expectation they all hold- show them you're better than that, please!"

"I have already overlooked this incident involving her. But I have slightly more than a sneaking suspicion that any attempt to cause me bother will involve you being dragged into whatever mess they conjure up. Yet more 'surprises' and unexpected nasties. Well, I will say _this_ only once- if you, or anyone else who considers themselves a hero who will slay the beast, involve Belle in any plot against me, I will not tolerate it." Rumpel snapped. "You understand, Charming? You know you would do the same for your wife,_ if_ she were here."

"Yes, yes I would do that for her! I would do anything for Snow, because I love her with all my heart and will do anything to keep her beside me!" David yelled, clearly getting upset by the turn the conversation had taken.

"Hm. And your attempts to do so have been _so_ successful, considering that- oh, wait. You wife _isn't_ beside you, is she? She's stuck in another land and will probably never come back." Rumpel said in a sing song voice, and Belle gasped.

"Rumpel, you can't say things like that!" She protested, tears springing to her eyes again. Goodness, how pathetic she was being today- she must be experiencing more stress within a few hours than she had ever experienced in her whole life.

"You seem to forget, dearie, that I just did." He snapped.

"And this is precisely the reason you will never know what true love is, Rumpelstiltskin." David sounded livid, and looked as if he wanted haul Rumpel off and punch him. "And that is punishment enough."

Belle stared at Rumpel in open mouthed horror as David stormed off and slammed the door hard behind him. She couldn't believe it- again, he had transformed within seconds, from a good man to a monster. Would this dreadful double life ever end?!

"You shouldn't have done that." She whispered. "You sounded so cruel- like a monster!"

"Prince Charming needs to understand that he cannot go around treading on the heads and concerns of others, simply because he believes his cause is good. You were an afterthought to him, and I will not tolerate that." Rumpel said darkly. "Also, I am sick of him and his family thinking that they can utilise the Dark One whenever they get themselves into trouble. If they hadn't gone meddling then they would never have landed themselves in this predicament- I am sick and tired of any plan I make being completely disregarded in favour of their ridiculous problems!"

Belle fixed him with an icy glare.

"You know, he is only acting so unreasonably because he is in pain. He has lost his wife and daughter, maybe forever- he might never see the people he loves again!"

Rumpel looked around him, at the library and at Belle's angry face, recalling a moment when he had felt the whole world come crashing down around him- when Regina, simpering evil Regina, had smiled her trademark malicious grin and told him that Belle was dead. There had been no hope in that casual announcement- no thought that he might get her back. He had known, in that moment, that she was gone forever and that was the moment he ceased to feel sympathy for anyone else who was suffering such trivial romance problems- if they had hope of seeing their loved one again, then they didn't have it bad at all. They wouldn't feel as he had felt, staggering to the table, leaning there, waiting for the evil witch to go and then going mad again, smashing everything he could get his hands on that he hadn't already destroyed the first time, lifting the chipped cup with delicate fingertips and placing it down on that column, crying for the first time in years and years and years-

"His pain is nothing. Losing my boy, being told that you were dead-" he broke off harshly, turning away from Belle. "He acts as if he is the only one to ever feel pain. He acts as if he is the only one to ever lose something, someone, you love and cannot live without. He is far from the first to feel such pain- he should know his _place_."

Belle was horrified. She reached out to him, trying to show him that she hadn't meant to suggest anything in comparing what pain he had felt, but he moved away from her and straightened up with a nod.

"He says I will never know true love and that is punishment enough. But Belle, the punishment is being in love, so terribly in love, and then losing that person. And then once you have found that person again, by some twist of fate, then being constantly scared you will drive them away." Rumpel looked at her, his eyes so sad that she felt tears spill up again- dear God, what was wrong with her today? "Isn't it mad, Belle? I've been given this unexpected opportunity to tell you how I feel, and I can't even find the right words."

Belle tried to go to him, but he shook his head and pointedly stepped away from her.

"I love you, Belle. I'm a monster at heart, but that monsters heart loves you with all its entirety. I'm not convinced that I'll ever be able to change, so I want you to know, before you lose all respect for me and leave me. I love you. I always did, even though I lied and said I valued my power over you. Always." He stopped, looking bewildered at the words he had managed to dredge up. "I hate being surprised. I hate the unexpected. I hate not knowing what is going to happen. But you know, I would have you surprise me every day. I would gladly live a life where I have no idea what will happen, as long as I know that you will always be at my side."

Again, Belle tried to go to him, but he began to limp towards the door. She followed him, but stopped short, watching him as he opened to door and looked out into the night.

"We're not meant to be happy, you and I. Something unpredictable always seems to ruin it. But I'll tell you this, Belle- I'm going to keep trying." He stopped, and nodded, as if pleased that the words were said. "And now you're unchained, and I'm going home."

The door closed silently behind him, and Belle sunk to the floor and put her head in her hands. She felt wretched, a mess, about to burst into tears- but at the same time, she was happy, oh so strangely happy, because he had at last opened up to her and told her everything.

"You might not like surprises, or unexpected things Rumpel." Belle whispered softly to herself. "But those words were unexpected and they were the most beautiful words you have ever spoken to me."

She tidied up quickly, and locked the library doors, stepping outside into the dark of the night. She looked warily around her, and was about to timidly set off for Granny's, but then someone caught her by the elbow. She gave a little scream, but then stopped, seeing that it was Rumpel.

"Surprise." He said softly, before they both started to laugh, Belle closer to crying than anything. Both of them could have said any number of things, things that both of them would have expected to hear- declarations, apologies, promises. But they heard all those words simply by looking into each other's eyes- there was no need to voice it all. "I'll walk you home."

She kissed him gently on the lips, before linking her arm through his, and together they began to walk through the dark, empty streets of Storybrooke, content for now. But even though he had Belle on his arm, entertaining him with soft chatter, he still kept a wary look out for the irritable pixie he was expecting to attack him someday. It would be no laughing matter- he knew, unfortunately from experience, that those hellish little creatures had teeth like razors, and the squeaky voice of the flying jellyfish- ahem, fairies- he so loved to loathe. It was torture, even talking with a pixie, because the voice was so high pitched and ringing and unpleasant. Being attacked would be even worse- razor teeth and the squeaky voice. He shuddered just to imagine it.

Rumpel was very sure that he still had to be on his guard and expect the unexpected- that he must try and avoid all nasty surprises if at all possible; nasty surprises were less common now that Regina was not such a crazy woman, it was true, but there was still a lingering threat.

But then again...Rumpel quite liked the idea of being surprised by Belle, or taking her by surprise. He could imagine that some rather delightful things might happen. Today's unexpected opportunities had proved it- he had already resolved to somehow chain her up again, not to do the filthy things Charming had so rudely imagined, but so that he could guarantee that time could be spent with her, unexpected nasties be damned. And also that kissing had been rather spectacular...

Perhaps he needed a new self-made promise. Rumpel mulled it over as they walked, and once they reached the door to Granny's, he was satisfied; he knew what he was going to vow to do from now on.

Expect the unexpected...unless Belle is involved. Because an unexpected occurrence involving the love of your immortal existence can never bad, if she is there beside you.

And then she surprised him with a kiss, which rather proved the point.


End file.
